HTTP-Based Stream Delivery Platform for CDN
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing content delivery networks face challenges in delivering high definition (HD) video at broadcast audience scale to various runtime environments and mobile devices, requiring costly and complex infrastructure to support multiple platforms and formats, while also needing to match traditional broadcast TV experiences.
Innovation Solution
An integrated HTTP-based delivery platform that converts live streams into an intermediate format, allowing for efficient delivery across multiple devices and environments, including mobile devices, by recording streams, archiving fragments, and serving them through a CDN with HTTP proxies, supporting both live and on-demand content with single and multiple bitrate streaming.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If dedicated platforms with proprietary technologies and media servers are used to support multiple runtime environments, then content delivery capability is improved, but device complexity and infrastructure cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal HTTP-based delivery platform that can serve multiple runtime environments (Flash, Silverlight, iPhone, etc.) through a single infrastructure. The system uses standard HTTP protocols and web-compatible formats (MP4, H.264, AAC) to deliver content to diverse clients without requiring dedicated proprietary platforms for each runtime environment, thereby reducing infrastructure complexity while maintaining broad adaptability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary translation tier that converts proprietary streaming formats into web-compatible HTTP formats. This translation layer acts as a mediator between the content source and various runtime environments, enabling universal delivery through standard HTTP protocols while maintaining support for multiple client types without increasing overall system complexity
2Adaptability or versatility
If proprietary media servers and protocols are deployed for each runtime environment, then content delivery compatibility is improved, but implementation and maintenance cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs a single HTTP-based delivery platform that universally supports multiple runtime environments including Flash, Silverlight, and mobile devices like iPhone. By using standard web protocols and formats, the system achieves broad compatibility without requiring separate proprietary media servers for each platform, significantly reducing implementation and maintenance costs
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses translation to convert proprietary streaming formats into standard HTTP web formats that can be universally played by different runtime environments. This copying approach with format translation eliminates the need to maintain multiple proprietary protocol stacks, reducing both implementation complexity and ongoing maintenance costs while preserving runtime environment compatibility
3Adaptability or versatility
If content is delivered in multiple formats for different devices, then client compatibility is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The translation tier serves as an intermediary that receives content in various source formats and converts them into standardized HTTP-deliverable formats. This single translation layer handles format conversion centrally, enabling client compatibility across diverse devices without requiring complex format management at each delivery point, thereby maintaining low system complexity while achieving broad client compatibility
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes format parameters based on client capabilities. The translation tier adjusts output formats (MP4, H.264, AAC) according to the requesting client's requirements, enabling universal compatibility through parameter adaptation rather than maintaining multiple fixed format delivery systems, thus avoiding increased system complexity
Data Source
AI summary
Stream delivery within a content delivery network (CDN) includes recording the stream using a recording tier, and playing the stream using a player tier. Recording begins when the stream is received in a source format. The stream is then converted into an intermediate format (IF), which comprises a stream manifest, one or more fragment indexes (FI), and a set of IF fragments. A player process begins when a requesting client is associated with a CDN HTTP proxy. In response to receipt at the proxy of a request for the stream, the HTTP proxy retrieves (either from the archive or the data store) the stream manifest and at least one fragment index. Using the fragment index, the IF fragments are retrieved to the HTTP proxy, converted to a target format, and then served in response to the client request. Preferably, fragments are accessed, cached and served by the proxy via HTTP.